Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Picking and choosing from the Constitution

One of my relatives posted on facebook the following poster with reference to the shootings in Chardon High School in Ohio:
DEAR GOD,
Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?
signed, a concerned student

DEAR CONCERNED STUDENT,
I'm not allowed in schools.
God
Which God are we talking about?  The God of Roman Catholics, the God of Southern Baptists, the God of Jews, the God of Muslims, the God of Unitarians, the gods of Hindus, and on and on.  It was not that God was not allowed in schools, it was that the schools couldn't determine how students should pray.

If the schools determine how students should pray, then the schools are determining the religious beliefs of the teachers.  If the schools determine the religious beliefs of the teachers, then that is a religious test of the teachers and such a test is definitely unconstitutional.

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." - Article VI, Constitution of the United States